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Should i buy the i7 model or i5 model imac?

tolgaytoklar

tolgaytoklar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 1, 2016
14
0
I am gonna buy the new 2020 imac. But i can't decide to which one i should buy.

Should i pay 300 $ more for the right one? I am an ios developer. I will use that machine for my development machine. So gpu difference is not important for me. But i am considering the cpu upgrade. I think the i5 model is pretty enough for the software development based machine. But of course the i7 model would be faster and better but 300 dollars in Turkey is a really high price (2000 turkish liras)

I am considering to use that machine at least 5 years. What do you guys think which machine would you buy if you were me?
 

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It would be helpful to know what you’re using now for development, but generally if you feel the i7 price is too high, you will still be able to do your work on the i5 and not break the bank.
 
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Namara said:
It would be helpful to know what you’re using now for development, but generally if you feel the i7 price is too high, you will still be able to do your work on the i5 and not break the bank.
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I am using xcode and android studio.
 
Your code might compile a few seconds faster with the i7 than the i5. You decide whether or not that's worth 2000 liras ;)
 
Namara said:
I meant what is the Mac or other computer you’re using now.
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Oh sorry, i am currently using a macbook pro (late 2012) but i hate it it is so slow for me. It has i5 dual core 2.5ghz cpu and 1600mhz 8gb ram
 
mj_ said:
Your code might compile a few seconds faster with the i7 than the i5. You decide whether or not that's worth 2000 liras ;)
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Actually when i start to think about getting an i7 machine, I am thinking about the future, not for compile times. In the future i don't know how i5 performs
 
In my personal opinion and experience CPU performance no longer matters when it comes to future-proofing your setup. CPUs have become so incredibly fast back in the late 90s and early 2000s that it really doesn't make a difference anymore. If in 10 years from now the i5 will be too slow then so will the i7 and i9. The differences between those CPUs are marginal at best, and there are many more important components with a much larger impact on subjective performance than the CPU, such as GPU performance (only relevant when comparing iGPUs to dGPUs), the amount of RAM, or whether or not you have an SSD and, to a much lesser degree, how fast said RAM and SSD are.

Take that with a grain of salt but I wouldn't invest a single cent in faster CPU with future-proofing in mind.
 
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mj_ said:
In my personal opinion and experience CPU performance no longer matters when it comes to future-proofing your setup. CPUs have become so incredibly fast back in the late 90s and early 2000s that it really doesn't make a difference anymore. If in 10 years from now the i5 will be too slow then so will the i7 and i9. The differences between those CPUs are marginal at best, and there are many more important components with a much larger impact on subjective performance than the CPU, such as GPU performance, the amount of RAM, or whether or not you have an SSD and, to a much lesser degree, how fast said RAM and SSD are.

Take that with a grain of salt but I wouldn't invest a single cent in faster CPU with future-proofing in mind.
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I see. Also Apple slicons are on the way, i guess i will get the i5 machine. But i am still open for other comments
 
If you're seriously considering doing that keep in mind that one of two things will happen:

a) Intel-based iMacs are going to retain their value because ARM-based iMacs perform poorly or have some other major flaw
b) Intel-based iMacs are going to plummet and become practically worthless two to three years down the road

The latter is exactly what happened after the last transition from PowerPC to x86. Honestly, with Apple's radical stance on compatibility I really doubt those things are going to be worth anything two to three years from now. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't get an Intel iMac right now if you need one, but you should definitely factor in a total financial loss just in case.
 
mj_ said:
If you're seriously considering doing that keep in mind that one of two things will happen:

a) Intel-based iMacs are going to retain their value because ARM-based iMacs perform poorly or have some other major flaw
b) Intel-based iMacs are going to plummet and become practically worthless two to three years down the road

The latter is exactly what happened after the last transition from PowerPC to x86. Honestly, with Apple's radical stance on compatibility I really doubt those things are going to be worth anything two to three years from now. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't get an Intel iMac right now if you need one, but you should definitely factor in a total financial loss just in case.
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I don't care the option B because of the currency exchange rates keep getting higher and higher over time in Turkey. I don't think i am gonna lose money when apple silicons arrive. When you buy something you will always be selling it for higher price in Turkey which is sad actually.

So i guess my decision is taking shape, looks like i am going to buy i5 machine. But i am still open for other comments. By the way thank you for your all comment guys.
 
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